Dylan

Dylan was first diagnosed with a Wilms tumor at age 5.  After showing her mother the lump on her stomach, she was rushed to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital where she was treated. “I would have never been able to get through such a hard time without the support of so many people in my life,” writes Dylan in her scholarship essay. “My doctors and nurses taught me how to calm down in stressful situations. They taught me to take deep breaths or count to ten before getting dreaded shots or anesthesia.”

After Dylan’s treatment, her therapist helped her navigate life after cancer and inspired her current studies in clinical psychology.  Dylan is now completing her doctorate degree and plans to become a clinical psychologist like the ones who have helped her.

PCRF is proud to have contributed to the science of Dana Farber researcher Dr. Michael Ortiz for his work targeting prohibition-induced therapy resistance in Wilms’ tumors like Dylan’s.